Week Three at P3DM – Populating and Polishing

Week 3 at the P3DM exercise at Cumana Village focused on gathering information from stakeholders (“populating” the model) and later, painting of the model (“polishing”) to reflect the various assets and threats at the site.  

The first activity featured lively interaction with representatives of Government agencies and local
non-governmental groups including community groups and religious groups. 

The staff of the Project Coordination Unit of the “Improving Forest and Protected Areas in Trinidad and Tobago” participated in both activities and provided a brief report. 

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GEF SGP Knowledge Fair

The Global Environmental Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF SGP) Knowledge Fair was a two-day event held at the UWI-Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business on May 28-29, 2015. 

The SGP is funded by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and  implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). GEF SGP provides financial and technical support for projects that conserve and restore the environment while enhancing people’s well-being and livelihoods. 

The Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, represented by Mr. Javed Lakhan (Environmental Policy Analyst) sits on the  National Steering Committee (NSC) of the GEF SGP. The NSC comprises voluntary representatives from local non-governmental organisations (NGOs), government, academia, UNDP and occasionally co-funding donors, indigenous peoples' organisations, the private sector and the media. 

As a member of the NSC, along with contributing in part to its WED activities,  the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) participated in the GEF SGP UNDP Knowledge Fair, 2015. At the Fair, the Ministry’s booth   highlighted some of the works of the Environmental Policy and Planning Division (EPPD) specifically the work of the National Ozone Unit.

 

Ms. Krysten Harris (Associate Professional, NOU), speaking to attendees about ozone layer depletion at the Knowledge Fair

Ms. Neera Singh (Ozone Assistant, NOU) speaking to a student of Palo Seco Secondary School about the ozone layer

Capacity Development for improved management of Multilateral Environmental Agreements for global environmental benefits Project

The Trinidad and Tobago Government through the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) has initiated the preparation of a Global Environmental Facility (GEF) medium sized project entitled "Capacity Development for improved management of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) for global environmental benefits" in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

It's objective is to strengthen national capacities for implementation of the Rio Conventions (i.e. the Convention on Biological Diversity, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and other MEAs in Trinidad and Tobago.

To achieve this, the project's strategy incorporates:

• training for civil society and key members of national institutions and coordinating bodies with responsibility for environmental matters on environmental obligations, rules and regulations, monitoring and evaluation, and national reporting guidelines and requirements under the Conventions
• creating cross institutional alliances, strengthening management capacities for implementing Convention requirements and developing coordination mechanisms to disseminate information and replicate approaches 
• developing a communication strategy to raise awareness of MEA obligations and requirements and disseminate project results 

Stakeholder consultations were convened with a wide range of stakeholders including community groups, civil society, the private sector, academic and research institutions, NGOs, governmental agencies and local authorities to solicit input in the project design and validation of the final project document. 

Validation workshops were held in Scarborough Tobago on May 27, 2015 and in Port-of-Spain on May 28, 2015. The feedback from these sessions were very informative and contributed to a successful endorsement of the draft project document leading to the eventual approval by GEF for funding to implement the Project  in July, 2015.

SNAPSHOTS FROM THE VALIDATION WORKSHOPS

Tobago (May 27, 2015)

Trinidad (May 28th, 2015